Background and Objective: The prevalence of obesity
is increasing among Thai population. This
cross-sectional analytic study aimed to evaluate the
associations between lifestyle and personal characteristic
factors with overnutritional status among the
supporting staff of Khon Kaen University.
Methods: 387 participants were evaluated the nutritional
status by using body mass index (BMI) The
BMI index of ≥ 23 kg/m2 was defined for overnutritional
status. General information, time spent for
sedentary activity and food consumption were obtained
from individuals using structural questionnaire.
Physical activity was assessed by using the global
physical activity questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression
was applied to examine the association of
overweight and lifestyle factors.
Results: The majority (77.8%) of the respondents was
female with mean age of 42 years. Fifty-five percent
of the participants were overnutrition. The participants
who had physical activities at vigorous, moderate and
low levels were 40.0, 23.8 and 36.2%, respectively.
The average time spent for sedentary activities was
11.7 hours/day. According to food consumption, the
subjects were at risk of being overweight in high and
moderate risk levels at 19.7 and 73.1%, respectively.
The following risk factors were significantly associated with overnutrition (p<0.05), i.e., male (adjusted OR
=2.5, 95% CI: 1.39 to 4.35), age 41-60 years (adjusted
OR =3.36, 95% CI: 2.08 to 5.44), education below
bachelor degree (adjusted OR =3.18, 95% CI: 1.41 to
7.15), having obese relatives (adjusted OR =2.45, 95%
CI: 1.54 to 3.88) and eating at night time (adjusted OR
=1.87, 95% CI: 1.01 to 3.45).
Conclusion: More than half of the supporting staff of
the Khon Kaen University were overnourished. Weight
control activities should be organized in this group,
especially in males aged more than 40 years who
have a low education degree and have obese relatives,
and stopping / reducing eating at night time should
be recommended.